Sunday, December 14, 2008

Patient Downy Woodpecker
























This male Downy Woodpecker was waiting his turn to eat from one of the suet feeders that the Red bellied Woodpecker was on. There are 2 other suet feeders in my yard, but for some reason he really wanted this particular one. It made me realize how patient and determined he was.

He that can have patience, can have what he will.
-Benjamin Franklin

29 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Shelley, I'm the one who needs to be patient in our home. I put out a suet feeder about a week or so ago--and the Downy's (nor the Red-bellied) have found it yet.. Duh!!!! The Red-bellied go right past it and come to the sunflower seed feeder.. What's up with that?

Jayne said...

I love the look of determination on his face!

jalynn01 said...

Patience is definitely a virtue, and hard to have sometimes but your little friend is displaying it perfectly. Nice shot!

Anonymous said...

Shelley, What a cute picture. I look like that, when Nalley nabs my fast food french fries!!!

Vickie said...

What a sweet photo! You do wonder about their preferences.

Kim said...

I love the expressions of downy's. They always have the look of intense concentration on their faces.

Diane said...

Shelley, Your blog is beautiful! I will put you in my list:) Thanks for stopping by to visit mine -Happy Weekend!

The Birdlady said...

What a sweetie!

Craig Glenn said...

great photo, you can tell he is ready for his turn...

Craig

Patsy said...

There aer never to many freeders

NCmountainwoman said...

Same thing happens here, except the Downy waits on a tree. Guess everyone understands the pecking order: pileated, red-bellied, hairy, and downy.

Nice photograph of the patient little guy.

Deborah Godin said...

Makes me think perhaps there are "qualities' to different suets or suet feeders that we humans just simply aren't equipped to appreciate.

Shelley said...

Betsy - I'm surprised at that! maybe they don't like that particular suet?

Jayne - Me too!

Jalynn - wish I had as much patience - lol!

Mildred - thank you - ha,ha to Nalley!!

Vickie - I've been trying to find the time to make the homemade suet - and see how they like that.

Kallen - I agree - they are definitely alert ones!

Diane - thank you so much! Your blog was a treat to visit!

Birdlady - I think so too!

Birdgirl - I think he definitely put himself into a subservient pose - but his eyes were still intense.

Craig - After several minutes - he was finally able to get some! :-)

B&P - I agree!

NC - I agree on your pecking order - funny isn't it?

Deborah -I thought the same thing. And next want to experiment w/ homemade suet & see if they like it better! :-)

Naturegirl said...

Shelly your photraphy is stunning!
Wonderful! hugs

Unknown said...

You got him in a beautiful composition and pose. Well done

Eve said...

Smart fellow, both the Downy and Ben!!

roentare said...

What a beautiful bird in deed

Chris said...

A very nice picture of a very patient bird (and beautiful too!!)

gina said...

what a beautiful lil fellow. i see downy woodpeckers around here, but they never stay still long enough for me to snap them...or maybe i'm too slow. lol

Leedra said...

Another great bird photograph. The human race could learn from that patience.

Vickie said...

Hi Shelly! I'm back to tag you with the "Six Random Facts' meme. This was a whole new experience for me so I hope you can have some fun with it too.

http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/2008/12/six-random-things.html

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Shelly: What a neat photo on the hook, nicely done.

Designs on 47th Street said...

I just love learning about birds from your blog. I have most of the birds you picture at my feeders as well. We have turkeys but NOT at the feeder! LOL!
Question for you...do you have any idea why my cardinals don't hop up to my feeders? They only eat on the ground. At my mother's feeder, they hop up onto it.
Thanks, Donna

Anonymous said...

On occasion we get a downy woodpecker at our suet feeder too. But more often we get a pair of pileated woodpeckers. Woodpeckers are definitely a lot of fun to watch scramble and move around trees.

Tina said...

Great picture, Shelley, no matter how many times I see a downy I am always struck by how black their blacks are and how white their whites are...they're feathers are never ruffled and they always look like the picture of perfect...nature is amazing.

Brenda Pruitt said...

You get such exquisite photos of these birds!
Brenda

Shelley said...

Donna - I know the cardinals will eat from platform feeders - (they usually don't like the perch type ones0 but i do have a shy one male one right now that prefers the ground. His wife is in my platform feeder all day! Go figure!

Rambling Woods said...

I have three suet feeders and everyone prefers one of them to the others...Beautiful little downy..

Connie said...

Ah..lessons to be learned here. Very nice, Shelley. :)